Z Gastroenterol 2004; 42 - 146
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-827047

Serum leptin levels in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis

F Szalay 1, A Folhoffer 1, A Horvath 1, T Csak 1, I Tornai 2, A Habior 3, G Speer 1, Z Nagy 1, P Lakatos 1, PL Lakatos 1
  • 11st Dept. of Med., Semmelweis University, Budapest
  • 22nd Dept. of Med., Debrecen University, Debrecen
  • 3Dept. of Gastroenterol, Medical Center for Postgrad Educ, Warsaw, Poland

The pathophysiology of osteoporosis (OP) in chronic liver diseases is unknown. Recent data suggest that serum leptin is associated to bone mineral density (BMD). In animal studies leptin was found to be a potent inhibitor of bone formation. Low and also high serum level was reported in patients with chronic liver diseases. We aimed to investigate the relationship between serum leptin levels and BMD in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Patients and methods: 90 patients with PBC (each female, mean age: 59.1±SD9.7 years) were included in this study. 81 healthy women served as control (age: 54.3±5.7). Serum leptin level was measured by radioimmunoassay (125I Human Leptin RIA Kit, Linco Research Inc, MO, USA). BMD was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (Lunar, Prodigy, WI, USA) in lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN). Results: Serum leptin was significantly lower in patients with PBC (8.3±5.2 ng/ml) compared to the healthy controls (15.2±6.2, p<0.001). There was a strong positive correlation between leptin and body mass index (BMI, p<0.0001). No association was found between leptin and liver function tests, histological stage or the presence of osteoporosis. OP was present in 38 patients (42.4%). There was a positive correlation between serum leptin and FN Z-score even after adjustment for BMI (R=0.33, p=0.025, by multiple regression).

Conclusions: We found a lower serum leptin level in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Since it was associated with BMD, it may be hypothesized that leptin is involved in the complex regulation of BMD in PBC.